About Me

I penned my summary of achievements and failures as given below.

After completion of my First Year Science in the year 1970 from the then called Bombay University . As a young ambitious student, I wanted to do my Aeronautical engineering in the field of design. So, I joined the Bholas' classes, which was a private institution in order to prepare for I. I. T entrance examination. At that time the tuition fee was Rs 80/- only, which was paid by my late father Mr. Savaksha. When I applied to I. I. T. for entrance examination, I got a letter of regret from I. I. T. Bombay, due to the age requirement. Thus, I was not allowed to sit in the entrance examination. I was totally dejected, but, I did not lose my hope.

Since my father was retired from Central Railway, he had put up 35 years of distinguished & dedicated service in the railway. I made up my mind to become a Maintenance Engineer in Aviation. So, with my interest, ability and success and passing out my interview taken by the chief Engineer late Mr. Mankame, AIR Works India, I joined as an unpaid apprentice in 1971. I worked conscientiously in Air frame technology division and within short period, I was given an opportunity to work in Helicopter division (Bell helicopter 47G-5). I gained 10 months practical experience in this company. My superiors and chief Engineer late Mr. Mankame were very much impressed with my work. Here, I anticipated one incident that occurred in 1971. When Super Sonic Concord plane, first time came to India , Bombay in 1971 for giving demonstration in flying test. I had an opportunity to view the demonstration and used to observe with admiration, the design structure, power and speed of the plane. I presumed, it was a sad story in the history of Aviation that Aerospatiale and other companies of Europe had collectively taken the incorrect decision in banning the passenger service of such a marvelous aviation machine which was designed to give speed above Mach 1. I was disheartened when the passenger services later on was removed from the world map of civil aviation.

I had a lot of friends with good will as well. One of my friends Mr. Shah, who was the maintenance engineer, encouraged me to go to U. K. for further study. His idea clicked in my mind. So, I had applied to The Royal Aeronautical Society, England for student membership, which was affiliated to The Council of Engineering Institution (C. E. I) London . This time, I obtained the student membership on my merit and perhaps I was among the few Indians to be honored as the student of The Royal Aeronautical Society, England .

In the mean time, I applied simultaneously to the Parsee Charity Funds for scholarship study and to Government of India for sanctioning the foreign exchange loan. One of my friends Mr. Mistry had helped me lot in preparing the application form for the Foreign Exchange Department of Reserve Bank of India for obtaining the letter of credit. Although my loan was sanctioned by the Charity trust but once again i had bad luck and so, the Reserve Bank of India did not sanction my loan. It was mandatory at that time, to place an application to the Reserve Bank of India for sanctioning loan in foreign exchange for advance studies in foreign countries; but to my dismay, again sent the letter of regret to me. When Mr. Mistry read the letter of regret, he was so much disappointed and I was again totally upset. My family doctor, late Burjor Pardiwalla who had a cordial relationship with us also became disappointed. Although, my student passport was ready but my plane was grounded. I gathered my strength & courage and tried my luck once again to study Aeronautics in India.

As my father was retired from Indian railway and nobody was there to support us financially. Later, I had to abandon my unpaid apprenticeship job which was supposed to be carried for 5 long years and it was now impossible for me to continue in Air Works India. When I left the company, everybody felt bad and upset, because I had a very good rapport with them. After my long struggle to get the salaried job; I got a paid apprentice job in gear manufacturing company. I got the first stipend of Rs 150/- in the said company in 1973. I used to work on the milling machine and learned to cut blank piece into different gears like Spur, Helical, worm & worm wheel, etc. While working for this company, I got a severe head injury as a Rack bar struck on to my head. I only worked for 6 months in this company but learned thoroughly about the calculations of various types of gear generation.

My family financial condition was at ebb. I needed a very good job for sustaining our financial condition. I happened to meet my 2nd cousin Ms. Pilloo Jijina, who was a kind and helpful lady. She introduced me to a social worker and a fine lady called late Ms. Mithamai Vakil. She had spoken about me to her son-in-law, who was departmental executive in Asia biggest Pvt. Co. called Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Pvt. Ltd. On passing out my test & interview, I was put in to P. P. C. Dept. Plant -9, Vikhroli. My plant always took part in IMTEX ( Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers Exhibition), Vikhroli, Mumbai as well as in foreign countries like Germany , etc. We used to manufacture Presses (10T 500T), Shear machines, Bending machines, Line Straightener, etc, etc. We used to get best machine design awards and manufacturers awards at Imtex.

I rendered my service for 15 long years in the same company and mastered the technology in Fabrication, Machine shop and Assembly shop. I had worked in Production, Planning & Control (P. P. C.) dept. My job function was to prepare the progress of workers (Fabrication & Assembly). I was instrumental in doing cost estimation of all kind of machines by referring blue print drawings & simultaneously calculating raw material cost, fabrication cost, machining cost & labor cost. Also, giving proper guidance & help to trainee engineers, who had come to Plant for undertaking project works from I. I. T (Bombay), V.J.T.I. etc. and, also showing the plant's function to visiting dignitaries. But I was not satisfied with my job, as I observed & experienced lot of politics played in giving promotions to others and not to honest & hard working personnel.

Since, there was no job satisfaction and future was not bright; I determined myself to continue my study in aeronautics as I had now acquired very sound knowledge in mechanical engineering. In aeronautical field, a person should be acquainted with the different streams like Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, etc. So, I affiliated to the Associate Membership of the Aeronautical Society of India (A.M.Ae.S.I), New Delhi, which is having professional course, equivalent to degree in Bachelor of engineering and recognized by the Government of India. I joined the then British Institute of Engineering Technology (B.I.E.T), preparing for A.M.Ae.S.I Sec A examination. Section A contained 8 subjects : Mathematics II, Electrical engineering, Engineering drawing & Design, Work shop Technology, Engineering Thermodynamics, Solid mechanics, Fluid mechanics & Principles of Flight. I also cleared Strength of Materials and Theory of Structure in my previous Part I examination.

I rendered my service for 15 long years in the same company and mastered the technology in Fabrication, Machine shop and Assembly shop. I had worked in Production, Planning & Control (P. P. C.) dept. My job function was to prepare the progress of workers (Fabrication & Assembly). I was instrumental in doing cost estimation of all kind of machines by referring blue print drawings & simultaneously calculating raw material cost, fabrication cost, machining cost & labor cost. Also, giving proper guidance & help to trainee engineers, who had come to Plant for undertaking project works from I. I. T (Bombay), V.J.T.I. etc. and, also showing the plant's function to visiting dignitaries. But I was not satisfied with my job, as I observed & experienced lot of politics played in giving promotions to others and not to honest & hard working personnel.

With the help of my I. I. T friend Menezes (now in U. S.) who taught me subject Mathematics, V. B. Batura senior engineer(Electrical div) from Air India (now retired), taught me Electrical Engineering, Mithaiwalla who was Senior engineer in Air India and also, the then, secretary (Bombay), Aeronautical Society of India, invited me to attend seminars at Air India which I enjoyed and gained lot of experience in operation of Jet Aircrafts and Air Bus. Later, he left Air India & joined foreign air lines. Mr. Singh of Air India , who was the then Professor to Air India school (Simulation Technology), taught me Principles of Flight. Rest of the subjects, I did with my own effort. I had completed all the subjects except Principles of Flight where I got 5 marks less to 50. One incident had occurred on that crucial day. I forgot to carry my compass box, which was very essential for JET engines graphics description. But still, I managed to describe the jet engines on the basis of my hand written graph. I presumed that it was near to accuracy but in this process, I lost my full marks. Thus I got 45 marks out of 100. The examination was conducted at I. I. T. Poway, Bombay . (It was the professional examination and so I dared not ask some one to lend his compass box).

My plant manager Mr. P. M. Bhadha who had understood my ambition in life helped me for sanctioning the leave for study and appearing for Professional exams. Others from design dept. like Mr. Mehta also helped me a lot. I am grateful to all of these fine gentlemen and my friends, who spent their valuable time and energy in helping me to brighten my future. May God bless them and may prosper in their actions.

Although, I did not achieve my goal in aeronautics, but I learned and passed in my other engineering subjects and also gained tremendous practical experiences in my relevant engineering fields which have boost my life.

In 80s there was lot of scope prevailed in maintaining Color Televisions, videos, etc. As these were the new electronic imported items and very few personnel were there to handle gadgets gently. So, I took up the Diploma course in CTV/ Videos and passed with first class in theory and practical examination. It was my part time job for handling all these electronic marvels efficiently and honestly.
After my father expired in 89, I had decided to start with my own company. So, on the 15th - Jan 1990, I resigned from Godrej company and established my company called HRN Electronics Services. My wife Havovi invested the first amount of Rs. 10000/- Thereafter, I built-up my lab with Dual trace Oscilloscope, Digital multi -meters, DC- variable power supply, etc,etc.
I am thankful to my late father Mr. Savaksha and my late mother Mrs. Najamai for their pure and spiritual love which they had bestowed upon me and also my spiritual sahib late Mr. Minocher Rustomji Soonawalla, who had groomed me and helped me to endure any eventuality that may come in my life. I thank my Ahuramazda, the God of Wisdom, who bestowed upon me my late wonderful, caring & the most loving parents and my spiritual sahib late Shri. Minocher Rustomji Soonawalla who had transformed my life towards spiritualism and last but not the least my beautiful and dutiful wife Havovi and beautiful & caring daughter Rashna and handsome, loving and caring son Nevil.

I had learnt and experienced a lot of tribulations in my life. Believe me, whether your future is bleak or bright but never say die. Have blind faith in GOD and keep continuing your daily routine. My sports & other activity : In my school life, I was champion in volley ball and I had a privilege as captain to lead my team in inter-school tournament. During my school days, in my extra curricular activities, I was on Training Ship Jawahar (T. S. Jawahar) from 1965, 66 & 67 as a Sea cadet. My last rank was Able seaman. The then honorable President of India, late Shri. S. Radhakrishnan had an honor to commission our Training Ship JAWAHAR (T. S. Jawahar), in the year 1966. I had a great privilege to participate in our Republic Day Parade, in New Delhi on 26 January 1966. It was a wonderful experience and a proud day for me in my life time. I thanked my late Captain Ahuja, who had first taken my interview and passed me and given me an opportunity to serve my Sea Cadet Corps activities. Late Commander Mody, officers like Madon, Dubash, Screwalla, Ajankia, Prabhu, Chadha and other Naval officers, who had imparted training and discipline in me. I was proud to be trained under them.

I had leant for the first time the meaning of SEA : S = Self discipline; E = Enterprise; A = Action

This is what I had to say about me. Please pass your comment, which is welcome to receive in good stead.

Able Sea man Cyrus S. Saiwalla had been Conferred the President's guard certificate, on the participation in the 1966 Republic Day Parade in New Delhi; which is one of the worlds best Armed forces parade & display the might of military power & preparedness to meet any eventuality at present or future by the strong contingent of Army, Navy and Air Force.
I wish to add here that only the best participants with the high calibre of wit with the best performance in march past and the best physical fitness are selected finally for the participation in the Republic Day Parade, New Delhi. I was proud to be one of them. If, I would get the second time opportunity, I would do so at this age of 62.